


Until next time

by twhiddleston



Category: Benedict Cumberbatch - Fandom
Genre: Happy birthday Mona, Other, allonsydean, benelickme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-01-14 13:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1267933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twhiddleston/pseuds/twhiddleston
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mona meets Benedict Cumberbatch ;)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday Mona you shit ilysm I hope you enjoy this and it's not too crappy (:

You get home after a less than satisfactory day at school, collapsing on your bed to stare at the ceiling. When did life get so shit? As you think back to the hilarious and stunning pictures of Benedict at the Oscars, you sigh. He was so far out of reach, like the moon, almost close enough to touch but millions of miles away. You admit that looking at Ben makes you feel happier, lighter, but the dim feeling at the back of your mind that you will never meet him dulls the bright ray of sun that is your hope. You shut your eyes and fall into the warm clutch of sleep.

You're walking down the street eyes down on your phone, earbuds plugged in, when you collide into something.. Someone. Your earbuds fall out as you hear a very familiar voice utter,  
" -shit, oh my gosh I'm so sorry are you okay?"  
Your entire body becomes rigid as your eyes follow the slender body up to its face. Stormy eyes stare back at you in worry.  
"Oh. My. Go-"

You gasp awake, hastily sitting up in your bed.  
"You're fucking kidding me", you mutter as you run your fingers through your hair, untangling some knots. It's late evening now, and you switch your room light on in an attempt to work, but as usual, after a few minutes you get distracted by twitter. More pictures of Ben surface as you sigh. Your hope is getting dimmer by the second. As you resume your conversation with your twitter friends, all of them assuring you'd meet him one day, you resign yourself to a long unproductive night

•••••••••••••••  
A few days later  
•••••••••••••••

The dreams are getting more and more bizarre and it's suffocating you with such a thick blanket of emotion that you have to just get out of your house and walk for a bit. You wander to the park close to your house and sit down on a bench closing your eyes and enjoying the cooling breeze. 

"Sorry is it alright if I sit next to you?"

You smile and nod absentmindedly, eyes still blissfully shut. Hold on, you pause. You recognise that voice. Just like-

"Is everything alright?"

You feel a hand on your shoulder and you stiffen, eyes slamming open and head whipping around to see high cheekbones, blue-green eyes flecked with mahogany, dark brown, unruly hair and a perfect Cupid's bow, arranged in an expression of surprise as he withdraws his hand. You don't think there is such a thing as someone having their jaw drop to the floor but yours probably has. Awkwardly regaining your composure as he grins at you, you stutter

"Oh my god I- I'm so sorry it's just that - I really don't want to creep you out, I really hate it when fans-"

Your mouth is running on automatic and you can do absolutely nothing to stop it. You watch yourself in horror as you completely and utterly embarrass yourself in front of your idol. He stops you with a hand on your knee and quietly laughs. 

"Why don't we start again", he says, eyes kind.  
"I'd really love that"

He holds out his hand

"Hello I'm Benedict"  
"Hi Benedict I'm Monabi, but you can just call me Mona wow I-"

Your breath catches as you grasp his hand in a firm yet gentle handshake. 

"Nice to meet you Mona, now I feel like something is troubling you. Do you want to talk about it?"  
"I really would but I don't want to waste your time you must be so busy I couldn't possib-"

With great difficulty stop yourself before you can wreck the situation any more. You can feel an emotion rolling inside of you, anger at your refusal to accept Ben's help. 

"Mona, darling, it's okay I have plenty of time don't you worry," he reassures you. "Why don't we talk about this someplace else. Coffee?"

He stands up and holds out a hand, smiling tentatively. Your eyes widen as you are yet again speechless. Benedict Cumberbatch just asked you to coffee. You take time to resurface from your jumbled thoughts but he takes your hesitation as rejection. Smile dropping slightly, and sadness creeping into his eyes he mumbles

"No it's okay you don't have to I wasn't pressuring you-"

You hastily grab his hand, now dropped by his side, and stand up.

"No no no no I just needed a moment to find myself sorry yes I would absolutely love to Ben"

Letting go of his hand, you both start strolling, chatting about anything and everything and he takes you to a small coffee shop close to the park. 

It's a quaint place, and Ben obviously knows the owners, as they greet him with wide smiles and immediately start making his coffee. Ben turns to you

"So what would you like? My treat of course"  
"You really don't ha-"  
"Mona." He says, mockingly stern. "My treat"

You grin, giggling slightly

"Okay okay, I'll just have a hot chocolate thanks"  
"One hot chocolate please Martha!" He calls out as he guides you to a booth in the back corner, sitting down opposite you. 

He puts his elbows on the table; his hands lace together and he puts his chin atop his knuckles, giving you the full power of his attention. 

"Now, my dear Monabi -" your breath hitches as he says your name "- Tell me what on earth is the matter?"

You begin to talk, nervously at first, but being in the company of Ben, who is a wonderful listener, you begin to open up and let your defenses down. You tell him everything. Everything wrong, everything right, everything great, everything crappy. And by the time you finish almost 2 hours has passed and both your cups are empty. As you start to apologise profusely he hastily stops you, grabbing your hand. 

"You've shared so much of your life, and I have loved every second of it. Don't apologise darling"

You stare into his eyes, mesmerised by their ever shifting colour. 

"Benedict you've let me get so much off my chest, thank you so much. I only hope to return the favour to you someday"  
"I-"  
"Only if you want it, that is." You blurt out, going beet red. 

Benedict chuckles. 

"I would absolutely love that. What's your number, if you don't mind?"

You exchange mobile numbers and walk outside, Benedict tentatively holding your hand, as if preparing for rejection. You lace your fingers with his and he smiles gently. The light outside is fading fast, the sky a warm blanket of orange and gold, as you stop out the front of the coffee shop. 

"So uh this is it I guess?" You say quietly.  
"Yes, I'm terribly sorry but I've got to dash. Meeting up with a friend, have you heard of Tom Hiddleston? He plays L-"

You begin to giggle, finding it extremely hard to stop

"Yes of course Ben! He's so famous!" 

Benedict grins sheepishly, but you sense there is something beneath it.

You mumble quietly "Don't worry I much prefer you anyway"

"Sorry what?"  
"I'd choose you over Tom any day of the week"

He blushes and you have never felt your heart flutter so erratically in your life. It's as if time has paused, and you admire his features, sharpened in the twilight, dipping sun giving him a halo. 

"Thank you for today, Mona. I really enjoyed your company, " he says quietly as he bends over to kiss your cheek. 

The corners of his mouth turn upwards in a private smile, one you know you will treasure forever. 

He hails a cab and as he lets go of your hand, looking at you one last time as if he is memorising your face, before stepping in. As the cab speeds off, you watch it until it disappears from sight. You begin to walk home, and two minutes later your phone buzzes. 

Until next time, darling ;)


	2. The wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter in Mona's great Benedict adventure :)
> 
> Happy belated birthday Mona, sorry if this isn't as good as the first and if there are typos I have no beta and I suck.

It's been 2 weeks and you've had no word from Benedict. You want to text him, every waking hour a tiny little though snuggled at the back of your brain. "What if?"

But you don't have the courage. Don't want to come off as needy, so you wait. 

And wait. 

It's been almost a month now and your life has returned to normal; that horrible crushing, repressing normal that you loathed so much before you met him. 

And then one evening your phone buzzes. You try to keep calm as you slowly check your phone - too many disappointments have led you to be cautious about how much you hope he calls. But it's him and as you ready yourself to (calmly, definitely calmly) ask him why the fuck he hasn't called for a month, you realise it may not be such a good idea. 

"Hello"  
"Mona? Fuck"

You hear a sniff in the background. Is he... Crying? No that's impossible. 

"I- I'm sorry I didn't know who else to call. And I'm sorry I haven't called I'm sorry I'm so-"

You quickly cut him off, your annoyance disappearing almost immediately.   
"No it's okay Ben I swear just tell me what's wrong"  
"It's - it's just that over the past month, after I met you everything was going right my acting gigs were lining up, I was about to do a run in Hamlet and I just got so absorbed in it I forgot t-"  
"Honestly I promise it's alright - what happened?"  
"I just... My best friend Sophie I just had a falling out with her and I feel so terrible and Jesus fuck I've messed everything up"

You hear a muffled sob. 

"Okay give me your address I'm coming over"  
"N-no it's okay you really don't ha-"  
"Benedict."

He relays the information to you and (you wouldn't normally do this but decide to make an exception just for him) you catch a cab to his home. 

It's a modest place to say the least, in the middle of a quaint, quiet neighbourhood. The one story house doesn't look new, but it's been well loved with a beautifully kept front garden. You hastily pay the driver and jog to the front door. Before you can knock, though, he opens the door. 

You know it's an inappropriate time to be thinking about this but it warms you just a bit to know he must've been waiting for you. 

He's a mess. Tears streaked down his gorgeous face and his sad, sad eyes echoing many hours of guilt and pain. 

"Mona" he almost collapses on you, burying his face into your shoulder and you hug him tight, no words needed to let him know that you are here for him. 

You gently usher him inside and onto the living room sofa where he plops down, you next to him, and exhales heavily. 

"Th-thank you for coming Mona I feel a bit better already"  
He cracks a tiny smile at you, and you grin back, softly putting your hand on his. He flips his hand over and interlaces your fingers together. 

"Now tell me what happened. From the start."

He talks for a long time (you internally giggle at how clichéd this is, since he's technically been talking until nightfall) but you don't mind, it is Benedict after all. You smile at the thought that by just being here and listening to him you've made his day just that little bit better. 

He cuts through your thoughts.   
"You know you're gorgeous when you smile"

You huff and look downwards, but he catches your chin with the a finger and tilts your head up. 

"Thank you," he whispers as his lips brush yours in the most tentative of kisses that you shyly return. 

He pulls back and takes your hand, standing up. 

"I've kept you so long, it would be unkind of me to send you home, why don't you spend the night here?"

It's phrased as a question and you can see he has still prepared himself for rejection. This poor, beautiful creature who was bullied so much that at every turn he would doubt his worth. You tackle him in an aggressive hug, saying that you would absolutely love to, and you can almost feel his huge grin over your shoulder. 

"I'll just be a moment," he says after you break apart, and he goes to grab you a toothbrush and a pair of sweats and a t-shirt from his wardrobe.

"They're a bit big, but I hope you don't mind." He hands everything to you and leads you to his bedroom. 

"You're okay with sharing right? Otherwise I'll just sleep on the couch it's no problem."

After all this he's still the perfect British gentleman, you quietly laugh to yourself. 

"I don't mind sharing if you don't." 

The corners of his mouth turn upwards.

"Great! That's that then, well I don't know about you but I'm pretty knackered.."

You giggle at the overly British expression, saying "yeah me too, let's go to bed"

You cram into the cosy bathroom and brush your teeth together, feeling like primary school children at a sleepover. After a couple of minutes you're both ready for bed and although your substitute pyjamas are far too big for you at least they're comfortable. 

You both collapse onto the bed and get under the covers. 

"G'nite Mona"  
"Night Ben"

You both fall asleep, your fingers lightly touching - a reassurance that you're there for each other and it's okay.


End file.
